RK05 stuff (was RE: cctalk Digest, Vol 10, Issue 74)

From: Ashley Carder <wacarder_at_usit.net>
Date: Mon Jun 28 22:19:54 2004

I, too, am getting geared up to do some testing of a couple
RK05J drives that I recently acquired. I am working on getting
an RK11-D controller so I can hook the drives up to an 11/40 or
an 11/34.

When I received the drives, I took the cover off and looked
inside. They appear to be very clean. There are tags on both
drives that indicate that they passed a maintenance check in
1997. I have applied power to both drives. The toggle switches
all seem to work and the appropriate lights come on.

I have the various RK05 technical manuals and an RK05 maintenance
course for field engineers. I have started looking at these
documents.

Once I hook up the drives to the RK11 controller on the 11/40
or 11/34, what would be the steps involved in testing these drives
and getting them up and running if they're mechanically sound?
They were shipped from Ohio to South Carolina. I do not want to
destroy the heads the first time I put a pack in the drives.

Ashley


-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces_at_classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctalk-bounces_at_classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Tony Duell
Sent: Monday, June 28, 2004 10:54 PM
To: cctalk_at_classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: cctalk Digest, Vol 10, Issue 74


> I believe I have to consider this. I have no packs with any data on
> them that I need. They were all just data packs with automotive
> parts in inventory and such. I cleaned a pack and loaded it into
> my RK05 drive zero and it would not pass the read/write test. I don't
> remember what happened when I tried to use drive 1. I believe it failed
but in a different manner. I thought if at least one drive
> was working I'd be Ok for awhile. I am not sure if I want to spend
> $300-$500 on trying to get a CE pack that may not help me if my drive
> is failing for some other reason than alignment.

As the data on your packs is worthless, try reformatting one. A format on
an RK05 is like a format on a floppy disk, it will re-write all the
sector headers, and does not depend on correct head alignment.

If the drive will reformat a pack and will then pass the read/write
diagnostic using it, then the only problem with the drive is alignment.
If it won't then you have more (electronic) troubleshooting to do.

-tony
Received on Mon Jun 28 2004 - 22:19:54 BST